Camping Weekend October 28 - 30 on the Saline River with Pictures and Description of Camping Experience with C2T and HipCamp.com

 

Only our second camping adventure of 2022, but we had a great time in western Kansas. We stayed at the C2T Ranch on the Saline River. Beautiful time of year to go camping and the weather was perfect! Carrie found this spot last year, but we did not have a chance to get out there last year. So, we decided as our second and final camping trip for 2022 we would do it here in late October. We booked our spot and headed out Friday morning to western Kansas.

Car Loaded Down for Trip

We wanted to all ride in one car, so Carrie and I bought rails for the Pilot along with a luggage carrier for the top. Worked out great! We met at our house at 7 am to pack and get everything ready. It took us a little while to figure out the luggage carrier or to get it packed correctly. We finally got on the road about 9 am. Almost three hours to get to Hays, Kansas where we stopped to get some drinks before heading out to C2T Ranch on the Saline River. The C2T is north of Hays, KS by about 10 - 15 minutes, so we headed out to find our camping spot. Easy to find the C2T location where we met the owners and they led us out to our spot.

Tents Set and Ready for Camping

Nice spot for us to set up our tents for the next two nights. The C2T has an option to buy unlimited firewood for $25 which we gladly took part in doing. We had a fire going most of the time we were there and it ran all day Saturday as we were cooking and hanging out at camp. More on this later though in this update.

Burgers and Potatoes on the Grill

Friday night we also took advantage of an option to have burgers and brats provided by C2T which worked out great! Burgers on the open flame were fantastic. I was too full to have a brat, but they looked good and heard they tasted great. They also served cut up potatoes which is in the picture on the left although foil is on it, so you cannot see them cooking. Everything was delicious!

We finished up dinner and hung out around the fire until about midnight. Talking, telling stories, and having a great time. We were commenting how during the day we were wearing short sleeves and could have worn shorts, but I think everyone had on long pants. By evening once the son went behind the trees, immediate drop in temperature, so we huddled around the fire. 

Tents at Night with Lights

The tents at night our first night with the lights on within the tents looked so cool! I had to snap a picture of it as we have done all the other times we have gone camping too where the tent looks so cool at night.

Being out in the middle of nowhere with no city lights is always a high point for me. I cannot get over all of the stars or the feeling of vastness from being in the dark. It is a fun and spooky feeling not knowing what is out where I am looking. While we do have headlamps, they do not do a lot for what is happening away from our immediate area. Again, this is part of the fun of being in the middle of nowhere and not knowing what we are seeing as we look out into the darkness.

Tents in the Day Backdrop of Trees

I am not sure the pictures are doing justice to how amazing the trees looked while we were camping. We were all surprised to see the bluffs in and around where we were camping. We knew that's what C2T had mentioned, but seeing it was cool to see. We did not hike up into the bluffs as we had planned as it was difficult to get across the water at least the few places we checked to see if we could get across, we would have had to wade out into the water. Maybe our next trip to C2T we will hike up the bluffs.

Carrie and John in Front of Bluffs

We enjoyed touring the property to look at the bluffs that were throughout the area. I had driven through western Kansas many times and I have been out there for conferences at Fort Hays, but I had not ever been out to the country to see the views of bluffs or the incredible trees that were changing. I would be interested to go back in the spring, or early summer, to see what it is like in the area. Maybe take in the lazy river that goes around the property and to see how everything looks much different from when we visited in October.  I am hoping to go back to C2T in the future at a different time of year.

Carrie and Greg Hiking

I mentioned we did tour around a little bit and got out and walked around. Not long hikes as we could not get across the low river, but hoping to do so the next time we visit C2T. There are a lot of paths or areas where we can walk to check out the property. 

As we were leaving, we talked about checking out other HipCamp sites in other states. A interesting way to see the country and to see areas we might normally see if we were camping at a state camp ground. Carrie and I have talked about doing something similar in Arkansas, but have not yet made that jump yet. My hope is that in 2023, we do a lot more camping and hopefully in different locations and states. Colorado is still on the list to do at some point, but we heard that those spots have to be booked out way in advance.

Part of the Saturday afternoon cooking was Carrie making Beef Bourguignon. Below are pictures of the process from basically the start to the end. One item I left out of the pictures was the bacon cooking, but figured you get the idea.

Beef Bourguignon Starting

Beef Bourguignon Wine Added

Beef Bourguignon Veggies Added

Beef Bourguignon Finished

This was the first attempt at Beef Bourguignon and it turned out great! It was really good and fun to watch it take shape during the afternoon while we played Rook.

I would highly recommend C2T and we hope to return there at a future date. The overall experience with HipCamp was easy and enjoyable. Sad that the camping season has come to an official end, for us, but looking forward to 2023 when we triple or quadruple our camping events.

Thank you for reading and have a great week! If you have used HipCamp or been to C2T, please comment to let me know. I would be happy to connect and discuss your favorite spots or your experience at C2T.